Collisions that occur at airports between on-ground aircraft and other objects can result significant damage to aircraft. In addition to the airlines incurring expenses associated with repairing the aircraft, other expenses include the dispatch of a replacement aircraft and potential costs to accommodate displaced passengers. Existing efforts to address on-ground aircraft collisions typically involve the installation of collision avoidance sensors and systems on aircraft that enable an aircraft to autonomously detect potential collision hazards and warn the pilots of such hazards. However, these systems can be expensive and the costs associated with equipping each aircraft of an airline's fleet with such systems can be unattractive from a business perspective because of the relatively low rate of occurrence of such accidents, and because compared to in-flight collision accidents, the risk of loss of life due to airport on-ground collisions of taxing aircraft is nearly non-existent. Further, retrofitting aircraft not originally designed with such sensors can be both cost prohibitive as well as technologically challenging.
For the reasons stated above and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the specification, there is a need in the art for improved systems and methods for improved on-ground aircraft collision avoidance systems.